The Joan Bressler Set in Philadelphia (SIP) 2026 Screenwriting Competition
WINNERS Announced!
The annual competition – renamed in 2026 for its long-standing steward Joan Bressler – seeks feature length OR original TV pilot length screenplays. All screenwriters are encouraged to enter as long as their script can be filmed in the Greater Philadelphia region. Winners are awarded a cash prizes ranging from $1,500 to $10,000 and given notes from the competition’s judges.
The 2026 Award Winners include four screenplays featuring four screenwriters:
Grand Prize – Feature Length Screenplay
Winner: SPLIT by Joe Mortimer
Prime Time TV Pilot Prize, Sponsored by Comcast/NBCUniversal AND The Oscar Micheaux Award for a Screenwriter of the African Diaspora, Sponsored by VestedIn
Winner: Rutherford Academy by Charisse Corbin
The Nina Lo Presti Award for a Female Screenwriter, sponsored by Laurie Lo Presti
Winner: The Doll Keeper, by Diane Sismour
Content for Kids Winner, sponsored by Hallee & David Adelman
Winner: Mountain Sleds, by Aaron Kim
The finalist judging panel included high-profile producers, writers, and actors with a Philadelphia connection. This year’s judges were Josh Cooke, Eric Neuhaus, Alexandra Drobac Diagne, Diane Walsh, and Laurie Lo Presti.
Scroll down for more information about the winning scripts!
The Joan Bressler Set in Philadelphia Screenwriting Competition (SIP), which is presented by the Greater Philadelphia Film Office, is open to all screenwriters, world-wide, who submit a feature length screenplay OR an original TV pilot length screenplay that can be shot in the Greater Philadelphia Metropolitan Area. All genres are accepted. Scripts are judged on their overall quality and the extent to which they project “shootability” in the Greater Philadelphia region. SIP Finalist Judges are high profile producers, writers and actors who have a Philadelphia connection.
The Joan Bressler Set in Philadelphia Screenwriting Competition celebrates storytellers whose work inspires and elevates the regional film industry. The program connects emerging screenwriters with mentorship, industry access, and opportunities to bring their ideas to life.
Your sponsorship supports local filmmakers, strengthens Philadelphia’s reputation as a production hub, and fuels the creative economy that drives film, jobs, and visibility in our city.
Grieving the loss of his son, Adrian Dodson, a former world class Olympic sprinter, must reconcile his past after an attempted car jacking leads to an unlikely friendship with his wayward assailant.
In the heart of West Philadelphia, Rutherford Academy follows Kwame Saunders, a brilliant but grieving teen from the inner city who earns a scholarship to an elite prep school after the tragic death of his best friend, Malik. Thrust into a world of privilege, pressure, and culture clash, Kwame must navigate academic expectations, social isolation, and the weight of survivor’s guilt – all while carrying the hopes of his community on his shoulders. As his old life pulls him back and his new life tests him, Kwame must decide who he wants to be – and what he’s willing to sacrifice to become it.
When her father can’t save the family sledding company from a new rival, a teen must use her racing skills and fresh outlook on sled-making to revive their fortunes.
The Doll Keeper is a dark, suspenseful thriller that unfolds in Pennsylvania city where tween girls vanish in unsettling sync with new releases of a collectible doll series. A disturbed doll keeper imprisons her ‘perfect matches’ in “doll boxes” — dressing-room-sized cages with Plexiglas doors and treats her “dolls” like living collectibles. A distressed mother of one of the girls and an FBI special agent have divergent investigations leading to an explosive confrontation. By blending claustrophobic terror with a heart-pounding race against time, The Doll Keeper offers a unique, character-driven psychological thriller about courage, hope, and survival.
Author Here I Stand, Health Is Made In The Kitchen
Writer-Scripts sold The Champion Inside, Scar Across My Heart
Creator/Producer/Director Blood, Bruises & Broken Bones – Reality TV show
Screenwriter/Producer/Director A Sense of Purpose: Fighting For Our Lives, Touch With Your Eyes, A Cup Full of Crazy, Rebirth (Pre Production)
Actor Law & Order, Svu, Zeno, Saint X, The Right Stuff, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Castlerock, Grace & Frankie, Longmire, Manhattan, Hail, Caesar!, Love You Man
Writer/Producer (Issues)
Derek Dressler (aka Deeki Deke) – Disney’s Kick Buttowski; Disney’s Mickey Mouse (Primetime Emmy Award winner)
Head writer for all 3 seasons of Netflix’s The Cuphead Show
Author, The Art of The Cuphead Show, now available from Dark Horse Books!
Film Festival curator and programming consultant, Artistic Director and Co-founder, Philadelphia Environmental Film Festival.
Formerly, Executive Manager, Lightstorm Entertainment (Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Titanic, Avatar)
Director of International Production, Pantheon Studios (Philips Dutch Interactive Encyclopedia, The Renaissance of Florence)
Producer (Sistuhs)
Post-Production Manager (A Time of Destiny)
Producer/Writer: Julia Fisher Farbman wrote and produced the upcoming feature film “Audrey’s Children” about revolutionary physician and co-founder of Ronald McDonald House Charities, Dr. Audrey Evans. The film, coming out in 2025, wrapped production in the Philadelphia-area and stars Natalie Dormer (Game of Thrones), Jimmi Simpson (Pachinko), and Clancy Brown (Dexter: New Blood). In recent years, Fisher Farbman produced the Emmy-nominated ABC/U.N. Women Special: Celebrate Equality: The Future of Women’s Rights, and has interviewed the likes of His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama and Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York. She also co-created, hosted and executive produced MODERN HERO (Amazon), an award-winning series that features female role models, including former First Lady, Michelle Obama and Dr. Audrey Evans, whose video amassed 17 MILLION views across platforms. Fisher Farbman is currently developing several projects, including writing/producing a musical centered on mental health.
Joe Gangemi wrote the screenplays for Wind Chill starring Emily Blunt, Stonehearst Asylum starring Ben Kingsley and Michael Caine, and Blackway starring Anthony Hopkins and Ray Liotta. He was co-creator and showrunner of comedy series Red Oaks, starring Paul Reiser and Richard Kind, which ran for three seasons on Amazon Prime. Upcoming projects include a period comedy series for Lionsgate TV. He is a graduate of Swarthmore College and lives in Haverford with his wife and children.
Alan Gasmer is the Co-founder at Veritas Entertainment Group. Credits as Executive Producer/Producer include: A Complete Unknown, Elvis Presley: The Searcher, The Mosquito Coast, Vikings and Vikings: Valhalla.
Writer/Director: ABC’s The Good Doctor, ESPN 30 for 30: Playing For The Mob, Insecure
Co-founder, Steel Titan Entertainment.
TV: Executive Producer- Underground, Jesus Christ Superstar, Sherman’s Showcase, Rhythm and Flow
Film: Producer/Executive Producer- La La Land, Monster, Southside With You, Jingle Jangle, Loudmouth)
Theater: Producer- Jitney and Turn Me Loose, Ain’t Too Proud
Co-producer: GBF (completed), The Lowe Men
Producer: (development), Number One (Short, Post Production)
Director/Writer/Producer: Walking Behind Gordy (Short Documentary, Post)
Writer, Producer, Actor: Humpty’s Riddle (Short)
Bev is also a Writing/acting/producing member of Neo Ensemble Theatre and a Development/Grants Consultant, Board Secretary Deaf West Theatre
Producer: The Best and the Brightest
Producer: The Perfect Man (Universal), Never Again (Focus Features), Bad Hair Day (The Disney Channel), A Christmas Carousel (Hallmark 2020), Nature of Love (Hallmark 2021), Royally Wrapped for Christmas (Peacock), Maps & Mistletoe (Lifetime 2021), Warming Up to You (Hallmark 2022), Well Suited for Christmas (Lifetime 2022), Record Breaking Christmas (Lifetime 2022), Laughing All the Way (Lifetime 2023), Romance with a Twist (Hallmark 2024), Head Over Heels (Hallmark 2024).
Dawn also served as Executive Producer on two Award Winning short films (The Boy, Butterflies).
YEAR | GRAND PRIZE | TV PRIME TIME AWARD | The Nina Lo Presti Award Sponsored by Laurie Lo Presti | OSCAR MICHEAUX AWARD | Content for Kids |
$10,000 cash prize | $5,000 cash prize | $2,500 cash prize | $2,500 cash prize | $5000 cash prize | |
2023 | Patrick Mahon sponsored by Stephen Starr | Sam Watson | Rae Shaw | Sam Watson | Jenny Krumrine |
2022 | Colin Francis Costello & Stephanie Jordan Sponsored by Wyncote Foundation | Guy Patton | Shalane Miller | David Chang | Denise Brossman |
2021 | Catherine Shefski Sponsored by Hallee & David Adelman | Philip Malaczewski | Sharon Spaeder | David Chang | Victoria Moser |
2020 | Law Crimlis Sponsored by Hallee & David Adelman | Philip Malaczewski | Kiz Mentor | Craig Bolton | Matthew Frishkoff |
2019 | David Chang Sponsored by AKA Hotel Residences | Eric Andresen | David Chang | David Chang | Kristina Lohre |
2018 | Deron Albright | Philip Malaczewski | Deron Albright | Steven R. Berry | Caroline Puts |
2017 | Ben & Oliver Samuels | Peter Page Wilson | Ben & Oliver Samuels | Stephen Arthur Schaffer | Lindsay Michel |
$10,000 cash prize | $5,000 cash prize | $2,500 cash prize | $500 cash prize | ||
2016 | Evan Young & Jareth Grealish | Katie Hennicke | Carol Sabik-Jaffe | Chloe Kimberg | |
GRAND PRIZE | TV PRIME TIME AWARD | REGIONAL AWARD | STUDENT AWARD | ||
$10,000 cash prize | $5,000 cash prize | $2,500 cash prize | Free Tuition to the intensive 4-day STORY Seminar in NYC | ||
2015 | Megan Riakos | Angela & Darren Croucher | Julia Yorks | Lexx Fusco | |
2014 | Jennifer Yee | Octavia Bay | Jennifer Yee | Jenna Gelenberg | |
2013 | Denise Brossman | Steven Homberger | Kristine Kennedy | Michelle Smith & Adrianne Gunter | |
GRAND PRIZE | TV PILOT AWARD sponsored by the Derek Freese Film Foundation | REGIONAL AWARD sponsored by Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia | IRENE I. PARISI AWARD | ||
$10,000 cash prize | $5,000 cash prize | $2,500 cash prize | $1,000 cash prize | ||
2012 | Jim Malone | Eric Rivera | Joseph Horning | ||
2011 | Anthony Stitt | Bruce Graham | Jerry L. Jennings | ||
2010 | Tom Turner Sweet Jane | Matthew Feely | Katie Hennicke | Dan Reilly | |
2009 | Mary Spiers | Mary Spiers | |||
2008 | Adam F. Goldberg Everything Changes | Jennie Krurnrine | Eamon R. Mclvor | ||
2007 | Joe Nienalt | Salih Abdul- Qawi | Derek Dressler | ||
2006 | Bruce Graham | Bruce Graham | Brian Loshiavo | ||
2005 | David Hoag | Kent Murray | |||
2004 | Bernie DeLeo | Jessica Parenti | Jeremiah Zagar | ||
2003 | Kristin O’Keefe Aptowicz | Jessica Parenti | Annie Baker | ||
2002 | Hal Borden | Hal Borden | |||
*In honor of his mother, Irene F Parisi |
